The Blue Men Group

Can Democrats reform New York, Illinois and California?

Updated Jan. 4, 2011 12:01 a.m. ET

Republicans return to power in the U.S. House and many statehouses this week, but in three of our largest and most troubled states the voters in their wisdom have kept Democrats in charge. In California, Illinois and New York, we are about to learn if Democrats can adapt to new fiscal realities or will merely continue their slide toward welfare state decline.

For the sake of the country, we hope they can turn things around. These blue state bastions were once engines of American growth and opportunity, and in total they...